A.N) Welcome to the third chapter. Oh man, this chapter was fun to write. Probably the most fun I've had writing fiction period. Something about making the character interact how you'd think they would with their personalities just makes it a joy to write.
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TH3 51L3NT A55A551N: All in due time! Here have this chapter, I hope it helps your confusion.
If you could kindly review that would make my life. Thanks.
EDIT: Fixed a few spelling errors, and made the story flow more smoothly. Also, He's is older now, forgot to take the time-skip into account.
The ghoul had offered to inject himself, saying that it would save one of them the embarrassment. Akira knew no-one was really willing to get close to him.
"You may take the bag now if you'd like. I won't be needing it anymore." he remarked. Akira raised an eyebrow at this as she rolled the syringe between her fingers.
"You could even test the blood for RC cells if you're so inclined to." He said as he bent down and tied the bag shut. In one swift motion he lobbed it over to the nearest investigator, where it landed perfectly upright a few feet away from him. The detective grimaced at the smell.
"Also, my apologies for all the mess here." He spread his arms wide indicating to all the blood. He took a step forward over the puddle of fluid. Extending his hand towards Akira; "No need to be so cold Mado-san. I am, after all, here to help." She regarded him with a hell-freezing glare, to which he only chuckled at, then slide her eyes to the RC suppressant in her hand. After a moment of contemplation, she took a step towards the ghoul. Akira wondered if she was fast enough to reach for her quinque in time to land a lethal blow. Another step closer. Her unoccupied hand twitched ever so slightly. "Miss Mado, your bloodlust is almost palpable.." the ghoul stated. She hesitated for a split-second but that was all the man needed...
She saw him move forward and reflexively reached to draw out Amastu, but she was too late. Before anyone could react he had covered the distance and had grabbed the syringe from her hand. Akira unleashed the whip form of Amastu and brought it down directly in front of her, but the ghoul was already twisting out of the way. He managed to dodge and as Akira turned to face him poised for battle, she found him injecting the liquid into the inner corner of his eye. Head tilted to the side, he still managed to keep his eye open and smiled almost maniacally down at her. It was a truly terrifying sight.
"Here, all done." He said as he pulled out the needle, seemingly unaffected by the pain, and extended out to her. She silently took it from him, her hand shaking ever so slightly, and noticed how he seemed to droop bit. She had given him enough suppressant to be foaming at the mouth, not to mention he had gotten the drop on her so fast. What on earth was he?
"That is quite a heavy dose." he commented offhandedly as if reading her mind. "Now." He clasped his hands together. "Shall we get on with business?"
Akira was done trying to figure out the man, she could already feel a headache coming on. "Follow me." "The rest of you!" She motioned to the other ghoul investigators; "Be prepared and watch the prisoner at all times." Takeomi fell in line a few feet apart from the ghoul. He cast a glance over, and found the ghoul smirking over at him. He gave the investigator a subtle wink. Despite everything Takeomi couldn't help but smile a bit. There was a small part of him saying; 'Is this person really a ghoul?'
XxXxXxXx
Haise Sasaki entered the 20th ward branch office, half expecting to see it half-destroyed or something to that effect. 'Mado-senpai never calls me about a problem. Ever.' he thought. What he did find was not what he was anticipated. "The hell happened here?" Shirazu asked to no-one in particular. He was carrying a sleeping Saiko on his back. They had managed to get her up this morning only to have her make Shirazu carry her, which made her fall back asleep.
"I-Is that blood?" Tooru said meekly, trying to hide behind Sasaki. "Looks like it." Sasaki commented, looking around the whole lobby. Various cleaning crews were cleaning up the red liquid and something in the air smelled particularly terrible. There was someone he didn't recognize. A young brown-haired woman was behind the receptionist desk.
Urie noticed as well; "New receptionist." The rest of the squad save Sasaki, Urie and a sleeping Saiko looked over at the new employee.
"C'mon. Lets congratulate her on her first day!" Sasaki replied cheerily, trying to bring some uplifting energy.
'We should be finding out about what happened here, not..whatever "this" is.'Urie thought. They approached the young lady and as she noticed them she gave them a smile but Sasaki could see it was forced.
"Hello, miss." She visibly flinched at his words and he wondered what he said wrong. "Umm..did I say something..?
"No!" she blurted out, causing the squad to lean back a bit. "No.." she said again, this time composed. "Are you Sasaki-san?" she asked nervously. "That's right" He answered with a smile. Poor woman was clearly frightened about something.
"Mado-san said you should head to interrogation room number thirteen."
Sasaki's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. The blood..interrogation room...did they capture someone? or something?
"Alright. Thanks a lot..."
Rio stared in bewilderment for a second, until she realized she was suppose to introduce herself. "Hoshino. Rio Hoshino." she bowed at the investigator.
"Thanks, Hoshino-san!" Sasaki waved. Tooru smiled kindly at the woman, Shirazu gave his toothy grin, Saiko continued to sleep, and Urie avoided eye-contact as he turned to follow his superiors.
XxXxXxXx
There was a knock on the windowless metal door of the room and Akira cast a glance at Takeomi to open the door. The ghoul had said nothing the entire time save for "Lets wait for this 'Sasaki' individual".
Takeomi opened the door and Sasaki traded pleasantries with him. He bowed slightly to Akira, and when he saw the person sitting across the metallic table he stopped. Everything seemed to stop. His breathing, his heart rate, and time seemed to have stood still. Then in a blink of an eye it was over, and Shirazu bumped into him from behind. "Ouch. Sas-san what's the hold up." The ghoul was just sitting there staring at him, but Sasaki knew there was something deeper in those eyes.
"N-Nothing, but I think you guys should stay outside for this." he said, while turning around and trying to usher them out.
"Eh?" Shirazu asked, cocking an eyebrow.
"Now now. Let your subordinates in, Sasaki-san. This should be a learning experience for them." The new voice made Shirazu look over Sasake's shoulder and let out a small "Whoa.."
Akira rubbed her temples; she was getting another headache. "Just let them in." Sasaki reluctantly complied, allowing all of them to shuffle in before he turned around. Urie had positioned himself over in the corner watching the man intently, Tuuro was seated next to Akira trying to act as small as possible. Shirazu, with some difficulty, managed to have Saiko slouching in one of the chairs. Her head smacked against the metal table, but she didn't wake up so Shirazu assumed she was fine.
When Takeomi shut the door, the man smiled as he regarded the newcomers. "So the CCG does have some aspiring young investigators." Akira inwardly groaned; 'Here we go..'
"Ah?" Shiruza questioned, cocking an eyebrow up. He turned to Tooru; "Is this guy for real?" he asked incredulously. Tooru, now under the stare of both her superior and the highly intimidating prisoner, shrank back. "I-It would appear so."
"Yes, I am. In fact, I am "For real" almost all of the time."
"Almost?"
The man nodded. "Only time I'm not is when I am stringing along young CCG investigators."
Sasaki couldn't help it, he snorted at that. Takeimo smiled slightly from behind him. Akira shot both a 'no-nonsense' look. Shirazu looked over at his mentor. "Whata laughing over there for? What did he mean by that!"
"He means you're an idiot." Urie pipped up from his corner. "The hell did you say?!" Shirazu glared over his squadmate.
Laughter erupted from the other side of the table as the man threw his head back. His laughter was loud and clear, and everyone was a bit shocked.
After his laughter died down, his eyes set on the sleeping one of the bunch. He gave Sasaki a quick look and slid his eyes over to Akira.
"May I?" he asked as he gestured over to Saiko. Everyone in the room visibly tensed. Sasaki, now completely serious, narrowed his eyes at the man. "What do you plan to do?" he asked. His voice as cold as steel.
"Simple." he gazed at Sasaki with an even look. "Wake her up. I believe everyone should be present and alert for the interrogation." Quinx squad was doubtful. Nothing could rouse her when she was in dreamland.
"I've already had RC suppressant injections, so-" "You're a ghoul?!" Shirazu exclaimed. Urie tensed like a coiled spring, he said nothing but he now glared venomously at the ghoul.
Sasaki casted a questioning stare at the back of Akira's head. "Mado-senpai?" he inquired. "Just get this over with. He knows that if he does anything remotely threatening he'll be signing his death warrant."
Sasaki was still skeptical, as he eyed the ghoul uneasily. "How about this? If I do anything that is not to your liking, you can break my fingers one by one. Deal?" He proposed. After a brief moment Sasaki gave in. Shirazu grounded his teeth together but said nothing.
The ghoul leaned forward and extended his arm out. With his pointer finger he inched closer to Saiko's head, everyone in the room silently waiting for him to lunge or attack. When his finger was about one inch away, Saiko immediately sat up, wide-eyed and pale, making Shirazu and Tuuro lean back in shock. The force of her moving titled the chair backwards and she ended up sprawling out over the floor.
"U-ugh, the heck happened." she groaned as she picked herself off the floor. Blinking drowsily, she took in her surroundings with half-lidded eyes.
Urie looking pissed off. Check.
Shirazu looking at her like a doting parent or pissed off at her for sleeping so long. Check.
Sexy man in a tux with freaky eyes giving her a somewhat creepy smile. Check.
Tooru looking scared and/or nervous and/or being a wimp. Check.
Mado being Queen B. (B for-
Wait. What was that 3rd one?
Siako's head snapped so fast to face the ghoul, that he was pretty sure she got whiplash. She rubbed her eyes looked at him again lazily.
"Who's the hunk with the weird eyes?" she finally asked.
"Nice of you to join us, I assume you had pleasant dreams." the aforementioned "hunk" asked.
"Would be better if you were in them.." Sasaki and Shirazu almost choked on their own spit.
Akira slapped her hand down on the metal surface. "Enough." she spat with so much enmity that even Urie shrunk back a bit. "I think we are all ready to begin. Now, first question."
The white haired ghoul nodded in understanding. He leaned-back into his chair shifting one leg over the other.
Urie bit the inside of his cheek so hard it drew blood. 'Why are they interrogating a ghoul here? He should be locked up or killed.' He thought as he glared down at the sitting ghoul. 'If i somehow am able to help in his capture...' Urie knew he would get recognized for sure.
"State your name, birthplace, and age."
The ghoul bit back a comment on how that wasn't a question and answered;"I don't have a name." Everyone in the room narrowed their eyes in suspicion.
"I have gone by many aliases in my thirty-three years of life, but my original name...I have no memory of it." Tuuro began to jot down notes. "I was born in the first ward..."
"The first ward is all but inhabitable to ghouls, there is now way you lived there." Sasaki stated. "Correct. I said I was born there. I did not live in the first ward."
"Your most well known alias then." Akira demanded.
The ghoul tilted his head up and his eyes traced the square tiles of the ceiling, deep in thought.
"Bushidō"
"That's a lie" Urie spat out. "Ghouls don't have honor."
"Urie, thats-"Sasaki began.
"You're partially true. Some ghouls do not have honor, but the same could be said for humans." Bushidō stated, cocking his head in Urie's direction. "Does the man who steals and kills in the cover of night have honor? Maybe." "What about the corrupt businessman who built his empire on the corpses of the poor and weak?"
"Don't try and compare us, ghouls and humans are nothing alike."
Chuckling at the young violet-haired man's ignorance Bushidō remarked. "On the contrary, we have more in common than you'd like to believe." A few tense seconds pasted as Urie glared down at the ghoul. "It must be hard...Being the son of a deceased ghoul investigator."
Sasaki visibly flinched, as did most of the Qunix squad. Urie was totally stunned, blank eyes starring into nothing. "W-What did you say." He whispered.
"All that anger and resentment you have coiled up inside..." Bushidō leaned in closer and whispered; "How did it fell killing a ghoul for the first time?" Urie snapped and lashed out with a fist, but the ghoul was faster. He leaned back and Urie's fist went sailing by.
"Yes!" he exclaimed "That feeling that you had, It is the same feeling a vengeance-fueled ghoul has when they kill a ghoul investigator for the first time. That self-satisfaction that they had paid for their transgressions." Urie was clenching his teeth so hard they almost shattered.
"Now tell me, do you think we are so different?" Bushidō grinned widely, knowing he had pushed the young man over the edge.
"SHUT UP!" Urie yelled in rage as his kagune unleashed from his back. He thrusted forward in blind anger but Bushidō twisted his body narrowly missing the blade, and pushed out with his legs causing himself and the chair to go sliding away as Urie brought his kagune down.
"Urie!" Sasaki and Shirazu yelled out. "That is enough! Stand down, That's an order-" Sasaki commanded.
'I don't take orders from ghouls.." Urie said coldly, glaring at him.
"Urie." Akira called. "Get out." she spat, disgust apparent in her tone and glare.
Urie hands shook and he grinded his teeth together in frustration. 'They are the ghouls and yet I'm...'
He unwilled his kagune and quietly exited, anger clearly in his gait.
Akira sighed and assessed the damages. A medium-sized cut in the metal table and part of the wall was punctured. 'Could have been worse.' she mused.
"So, you are the rumored Quinckes..."Bushidō muttered to himself. "I apologize for the boy's actions. I antagonized him quite a bit." Akira glared at Bushidō, who was just as bit relaxed as he was before, from his spot near the corner of the room. "That wasn't necessary."
"He needed a reality check." "Mankind is not as righteous and just as he thinks, nor are ghouls as evil or monstrous as humans tend to believe either." "To know, is to know that you know nothing. That is the meaning of true knowledge." he quoted.
"Socrates." Sasaki whispered to himself.
"I don't get it." Shirazu deadpanned and Siako bobbed her head lazily in agreement.
"He means that when you think you know something, you really don't. It forces you to think about it from different angles." Tooru explained.
"My, you're quite observant aren't you? ...Tell me, What do you see when you look at me?" Bushidō asked. Tooru gulped nervously,but he wouldn't back down. 'This is my chance to show that I am worthy of being an investigator.'
He met Bushidō's gaze and almost lost his will to speak, his eyes felt like they were piercing his soul. Tooru took a deep breath to calm his nerves. He began making a mental list of the ghoul's mannerisms and he could somewhat grasp his ideology. After a few seconds of deep thought he spoke up.
"You enjoy teaching people. You are not afraid of ghoul investigators, meaning you are either a very good actor or you are a powerful ghoul. You didn't even flinch when Urie attacked you and you managed to dodge it, meaning you are probably the latter."
"You respect humans and you try to reason with them, but at the same time you sympathize with ghouls...You understand that there is no white and black scenarios, there is always grey areas." Tooru stated gaining more confidence as he spoke. He was acutely aware then, that everyone's eyes were on him and he faltered. "Y-you're also sort of...intimidating." he finished quietly looking down at his lap.
"Whoa...That was pretty deep Tooru." Shirazu contimpented. "Who knew you could look so deeply with only one eye." Siako added. "D-Don't tease me, guys!" he complained.
Shurazu spoke up then; "How'da know about Urie's dead father?"
"I didn't, but I assumed he had suffered a loss by the way he reacted to me be being a ghoul. He had been staring at me very menacingly."
Akira cleared her throat, catching the attention of all of them. "Are you done?" she asked, looking over at Bushidō.
'My, my. She sure does catch on fast.' he pondered.
"Yes, anymore questions?"
Akira asked the rest of her formal questions, and he answered them.
"The heads in the bag that you brought. You said it contained ghoul heads, correct?" Tuuro paled, but managed to continue writing. Sasaki shot Takeomi a questioning glance, but he just shook his head.
"Yes, they are. Would you like to know where the bodies are?"
"You have the bodies?" Akira asked genuinely surprised. Bushidō nodded; "Yes, and they are all S-rating and higher type ghouls." Tooru's pencil lead broke, as all of them stared in shocked silence.
"E-Excuse me?" Akira asked; Disbelief clear in her voice. "I have exactly eight S-rating ghoul and four SS-rating ghoul bodies in hiding." he said lacing his fingers together and leaning forward.
"Something like that is..." Sasaki began. "Sasaki-san. I pride myself on not being a liar, I came here on my own free will to sit before you today. What reason do I have to lie?" He reached into his tux and pulled out a photo. It showed twelve headless bodies all lined up in a row.
"So this is what it's all about." Akira interjected. "You want something in exchange for the bodies."
"A bargain...that tips heavily in your favor." Bushidō confirmed. "In exchange for the bodies, I want to help you in your investigations. Taking down the ghouls that are a detriment to society. The ones that would rather rip open your body and feast on your organs than let you live."
"Absolutely not." "And why not?" he asked, eyes boring into hers. "The CCG working with a ghoul? It would go against everything we stand for." Sasaki inwardly flinched at her words.
"...and what do you stand for Mado-san? Hmm?" Akira was not going to fall for his ploy. She glared and said "It wouldn't be my choice to make, my superiors would have to decide and they would never-"
A single knock came from the other side of the door and the Quinx investigators jumped at the sound. Takeomi looked over at Akira almost nervously, as if to say 'You know you this is..' Akira gave him a single nod, and he slowly turned the handle and opened the door.
Kishou Arima stood in the doorway regarding all of them with an apathetic expression.
"A-Arima.." Sasaki greeted.
Bushidō let out a low whistle; "So this is the CCG's Reaper. A pleasure to meet you Kishou Arima."
A.N) #uriegetsrekt haha, I kid of course. (not really). Did I butcher them too much? I hope not :X
Again, if you could kindly review it would make my life. Thanks.
Also, CLIFFHANGER!
